Blue

Looks like the below X post summarizes the issue, for those who (like me), who didn't want to sit through Shawn Ryan's 8 minute video. Questions about US House members becoming millionaires are always concerning, for obvious reasons. I'd be more concerned about what I think is the more likely scenario: Corporations, NGOs, or other organizations who want to gain favor with Crenshaw, offering to foot the bill for his birthday bash. He entered Congress in 2018, and has been reelected three times since then. According to Wikipedia, his 2020 campaign was one of the most expensive Congressional races in the country, at $10M+. Someone is paying that bill, and it's for sure not Crenshaw himself. I don't follow this shit as much as others, but I've heard Crenshaw on a podcast once or twice, and read about him here and there. Ten years of service and five tours as a SEAL is an enviable military record, by any account. Good on him for leveraging that into a political career. But he sure comes off like a grown adult throwing a tantrum in this current issue. Also, based on the few things I've heard and read about him, he really comes off as someone who's committing the gravest error of celebrity: He's believing his own press. He's got this great image of American Hero Navy SEAL turned political crusader, fighting the good fight. While that makes for good press, I'm sure he's just as dirty as your normal Congress critter. Duke Cunningham was another Navy hero who rose to Congress, and by all accounts fell into the same trap, ultimately landing himself in prison. Finally, just because this kind of shit really grinds my gears: "My boys down at 6....." Man, STFU. You've been out for almost ten years. Your rank is Mister. Or Congressman. But throwing around comments like "your boys" just makes you sound like yet another washed-up military retiree in the Beltway, trying to impress people with a bunch of mindless name dropping.

Honest question: You're punching out at the 15 year mark?

Yeah. Play stupid fucking games Win stupid fucking prizes

Spit-balling from the cheap seats: If the Air Force desired to set up a reasonable ACE program as quickly and cheaply as possible, would reactivating the T-1 fleet be an option?

Would love to see Adam Carolla take over Kimmel's slot.

Curious to know the scope of the "gender identity content" that was being taught. Are we talking about 1-2 slides out of a whole semester? Or did this prof hijack the entire content of this "Children's Literature" course to push a bunch of gender identity nonsense? Both possibilities are obviously troubling, but it seems like it's going to matter, given the fact that the prof in question is screaming "But my academic freedom," while Welsh is citing "Academic responsibility." Searching around, I couldn't find anything specific.

This forum needs a TDS button.

🙄

While I don't believe them for a second, if this is the path they're going to choose, so be it. In that case, I'd like the investigation on Jeffrey Epstein to pivot to the question of: Where the fuck did he get all that money? That always seems to be lost in the breathless discussion about supposed "lists." Dude was a former teacher who pivoted to finance, and by all accounts, was pretty lousy at it. But somehow, he amassed a fortune north of a half billion dollars, to include properties all over the globe. It's pretty clear he didn't get this money from legitimate financial trading. There is strong evidence that he had financial backing from someone or some entity. Where did he get he money? Who bankrolled Epstein? To what end? Those are the questions I'd like answered.

I have no relevant advice to offer (I wish I did). Just curious how it went?

My cynical opinion: The Air Force has a finite amount of procurement dollars, and trainers are their last priority. I think the only thing that got the T-7 over the finish line was that it provided a lifeline to Boeing's St Louis operation.

From the outside looking in, this does seem to make the most sense. They've decided: 1.) They want X number of pilots 2.) The T-6 fleet as currently funded can only support Y number of hours AETC leadership has been told to produce "X" pilots utilizing the available "Y" T-6 hours. End of story. If you can't do it, step aside, we'll find another General who can. Curious what a proper recapitalization of the T-6 fleet would look like. Is it a matter of needing to buy an entirely new aircraft (T-6C)? Or is there a path where enough sustainment funding of the current fleet (modifications, upgrades, overhauls, etc) would get you the hours needed to avoid all of the current flailing about with 141 schools and the like?

Reminds me of this article from Air and Space Smithsonian magazine from 10 years ago. What Couldn’t the F-4 Phantom Do? Specifically the below. At the time, thought I knew most of the lore about the Phantom, but had never heard they chased Titan rockets with it.

Funding for the pro-Ukraine propaganda machine in the US dried up. Not sure if that was due to USAID being axed, or something else. Either way, much like "no bucks, no Buck Rogers," when there is no funding for propaganda, you get no wailing from the US middle and upper classes about Ukraine.

Dementia, cancer, and all the other physical and mental ailments of old age are both sad and terrifying. I'm sure many of us have seen it play out in our own families, or others close to us. That said, I'm still anxiously awaiting some kind of explanation as to who exactly was running the country while Biden was tottering around, oblivious to his surroundings. The American people are owed that. Also, while I'm not holding my breath, I'd hope we'd eventually get some understanding of Jill Biden's state-of-mind through her husband's presidency. How she was able to come to terms with the allegiances to her party vs her allegiances to her husband and his health.

10 of the retired KC-10s were sold via a GSA auction that closed yesterday. Opening bid of $500k, and it seems like all of them were bought at $500,100. One example: 79-0434: https://gsaauctions.gov/auctions/preview/321151 Looks like all had engines included, but booms removed. Will be interesting to see where they end up.

I don't get it. What does that even mean? Things were going great until Boeing and LM started on the program? Who else did this person think was going to build these planes?

Yeah, this. The question of using the autopen is just one of many threads to start pulling. The real questions I'd hope to get insight on would be the reality of Joe Biden's mental state throughout his presidency, who exactly was making decisions on his behalf, and the extent of those decisions.

I still don't understand why people are getting spun into the ceiling about this e-mail request. The guidance I've seen and heard about is more or less along the lines of "we want to make sure there is a person at the other end of that e-mail address. That's all." This tweet summarizes it. The messaging has been chaotic, from the White House and from SecDef. However, at no time has anyone said anything about responses being tied to a RIF or anything else (that I've seen). Do people have a source for that? Or is it just people fear-mongering in the absence of information?

If you can't even spell the guys name right, it's very difficult to take you seriously.

All of the west has been awash in pro-Ukraine propaganda for years now. And it worked really well. Tons of money and supplies were sent to Ukraine over the past 3+ years, as a direct result of that propaganda campaign. Propaganda only goes so far though. Eventually, reality catches up. Most know this. Trump being elected is a direct product of this. Zelensky doesn't seem to get it, but maybe he's starting to learn his lesson.

Not being snarky, but what exactly is your point?

I'm not in the .gov world anymore, so I don't know what the messaging is. And it's hard to sift through everything out there on social media about the topic, because there is little differentiation between fact, hyperbole, and speculation. At first glance though, it really seems like your leadership is getting ahead of themselves here. Why are people being told "they're fired" before there is no-kidding paperwork in hand? All of this churn sounds like the fault of your direct leadership, and not DOGE, POTUS, etc.

The quoted NBC News article cites their source as "a U.S. official familiar with the matter." All of the reporting seems to trace back to a story in The Record, which is a site that reports on cybersecurity news. They state their sources as "three people familiar with the matter." Maybe it's true. But it's been very clear that most mainstream media is biased against Trump, and certainly biased against anything that shuts down the flow of money to Ukraine. In the past, so many news stories like this were ginned up from next-to-nothing, and the benefit of hindsight showed that so many of them were false. So, I can't summon any personal concern about a "story" from the MSM that cites the bullshit "sources familiar with the matter" and the like. I suppose it doesn't matter though. This story is running rampant through social media, with everyone piling on. "OMG, How can he do this!!11!!1 HE's an ElEment of PutiN! Fuck TruMP!!1!!" It's all just so fucking exhausting.

Yeah. Saying that the EOs intent was "only the Pres and AG can interpret the laws" is a shitty take. Didn't stop all of social media from running with it yesterday though. This was my interpretation as well. For all of the screaming about Trump, DOGE, firings, Ukraine, taxes, etc, a large portion of what is happening is a long overdue attempt at reigning in the federal bureaucracy. This EO is just another step in that direction, and I think it's a reasonable approach. I'm anxiously awaiting the implementation of the "Schedule F" EO, which is intended to put some guardrails around civil service employees working in policy-influencing positions. As can be expected, many in .gov land are not supportive.